1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the general art of electrical outlets, and to the particular field of power strips.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Many people enjoy decorating their homes and gardens. This is especially true during Christmas time as well as other holidays. People often attach lights and other electrical elements to their homes and place lights and other electrical elements around their homes. Many people also like to decorate their homes and gardens for parties or for simple landscaping reasons. Some people also like to locate a plurality of various electrical elements on and around their homes for security purposes.
The decorations are often beautiful and interesting and the security elements are often quite effective. However, they are often difficult and time consuming to erect and remove. Cords become tangled, frayed or even shorted, and the like. Furthermore, if there are a multitude of different electrical elements involved in the system, many people become overwhelmed at the complexity of the set up. Thus, many people are reluctant to decorate their homes and gardens in manners that otherwise would be enticing.
Therefore, there is need for a versatile means for easily and efficiently connecting a plurality of different elements to a power source. Since many people wish to locate such elements outside, such as in a landscaping situation or a home holiday decoration, or in home security situation, there is need for a such an electrical connection unit that can be used outdoors. Specifically, there is a need for such a means that can be used for holiday decorations, including Christmas decorations and the like as well as such a means that can be used for landscaping and gardening purposes.
Often, such systems are located where they may be contacted by water and many times the home is subject to power surges of various types. In order to protect not only the elements of the overall system, but to protect people who may be near these elements during such a power surge, any means for electrically connecting such elements to power should include a surge protector circuit.
Since many people are conscious of saving energy, they may wish the decorations erected on and around their home to be active only at certain times. Thus, it would be advantageous if such decorations were only activated when desired and de-activated at all other times. This is also true if the electrical elements are being used for security purposes. For example, a home owner may want certain lights to go on when someone approaches their home, but to be off at all other times. This result is best achieved if the electrical elements are controlled by a motion detector. However, equipping each element of a system with a motion detector may create problems. These problems include cost as well as complexity. If each item of an overall system is equipped with its own motion detector, there is much room for failure.
Therefore, there is need for a means for efficiently, reliably and economically connecting a plurality of elements of an overall system to a motion detector unit.
While a homeowner may wish an overall system to be on some of the time and off at other times, that homeowner may wish to have a motion controlled system at still other times. Therefore, there is need for a means for connecting a plurality of different elements to power in a manner that can be operated in a plurality of different modes and can be switched between the various different modes.
It is a main object of the present invention to provide a versatile power connection.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a power connection that can be used outdoors.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a power connection that includes a surge protector circuit.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a power connection that includes a motion detector unit.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a power connection that can be operated in a plurality of different modes.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a power connection that can be switched between various different modes of operation.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a power connection that is suitable for use with Christmas lights.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a power connection that is suitable for garden and landscaping use.
These, and other, objects are achieved by a power strip which comprises a housing; a plurality of electrical outlet receptacles on the housing, each outlet receptacle including a grounded connection; a power cord which can be connected to a source of power; a motion sensor circuit electrically connected to each of the electrical outlet receptacles; a surge protector circuit electrically connected to each of the electrical outlet receptacles; a control switch on the housing. The control switch having three mutually exclusive positions including an xe2x80x9coffxe2x80x9d position which electrically disconnects the electrical surge protector circuit from power when the control switch is in an xe2x80x9coffxe2x80x9d condition, an xe2x80x9conxe2x80x9d position which electrically connects the electrical surge protector circuit to power when the control switch is in an xe2x80x9conxe2x80x9d condition, and a xe2x80x9cmotionxe2x80x9d position which electrically connects the motion sensor circuit to power when the control switch is in a xe2x80x9cmotionxe2x80x9d condition; and an anchor on the housing. The anchor being sized and shaped to fix the housing to the ground and may be electrically connected to the ground when the anchor is fixed to the ground. The power strip further includes a grounding circuit which electrically connects the grounded connection of each of the electrical outlet receptacles to the ground in the power cord or to the anchor whereby each of the outlet receptacles is grounded.
The power strip can be used either indoors or outdoors and can be used to connect a plurality of elements to power. Thus, Christmas lights, decorative garden and landscaping lights and the like can be connected to power in an easy and expeditious manner. The surge protector circuit of the power strip protects the connected elements from power surges and the motion detector circuit can be used to activate the connected elements only when a person moves in the vicinity of the power strip. This permits the power strip to activate such elements only when a particular effect is desired while saving energy the rest of the time. This also permits the power strip of the present invention to be used for home security to turn on multiple devices, including lights, if someone approaches the home. However, the power strip of the present invention can be used in any one of a plurality of modes so the power strip is quite versatile.